Looking to flip a house? Study says you’re in luck

If you’re looking to invest in the housing market, Springfield is a good place to start, according to a study by personal finance website WalletHub.com.

While the home-flipping rate last year was its best since 2007, homeownership is at a near half-century low, meaning buyers for investments may not be readily available. But if you can manage to flip a home, you’re looking at an average 2015 profit of $55,000, according to the national study.

WalletHub’s 2016 list of the best places to flip houses analyzes the nation’s largest 150 cities based on house-flipping market potential, including average return on investment, median purchase price and number of real estate agents per capita; renovation and remodeling costs; and quality of life. Housing-flipping market potential and renovation and remodeling costs each count as 35 points, with quality of life at 30 to bring the scale up to 100.

The Queen City ranked 19th on the list with a score of 63.19. It placed 122nd in house-flipping market potential, ninth in renovation and remodeling costs, and 116th in quality of life. Springfield was the only Missouri city on the Top 20.

Atop the list was Sioux Falls, S.D., with a score of 73.38, followed by Fort Wayne, Ind., at 69.37, and El Paso, Texas, at 69.16.